ITMA 2015 officially kicked off Thursday and global color and specialty chemicals company Archroma is already making headlines after the introduction of its new Inkpresso system for digital printing.
According to Archroma, Inkpresso, developed in conjunction with Swiss tech provider Ink-Situ, will change the way inks are supplied to digital printers—the solution makes production more flexible, eliminates shelf-life problems and offers a larger color spectrum plus the possibility of an individual coloristic fingerprint.
At the center of the new system is the Inkpresso Ink Formulation Unit (IFU), with eight available color modules that can be blended to meet manufacturers’ needs.
With the new system, inks can be sent directly from the Inkpresso IFU to the printer via a piping system. Multiple printers could also be supplied concurrently using a special distribution unit. In addition, colors can be stored for several weeks in a storage unit.
“A major component of ready-mixed inks is water,”Archroma’s head of global business Rainer Roesch said. “This, however, leads to higher transport costs, increasing environmental impact and reduced shelf life. The Inkpresso system enables mixing of the required ink on site and on demand.”
Roesch added, “Inkpresso is driving the digital printing revolution by bringing ink manufacture back to the printers themselves.”